Gray Sky
by Tranquil Azul
Summary: The story of a pokémorph named Yamato who makes it through life and learns to survive.
1. Prologue

**Gray sky**

A pokémorph's story

**Chapter One**: Prologue (Ranting, actually)

You know what they always stay? Stories are all the same. Who came up with that cheap lie? Everyone knows stories aren't the same. If you believe in that, somebody told you wrong. Stories aren't all the same. They can have similarities, but that doesn't mean they're all the same. Like this story, for instance-- I'll tell you now; it's not the same. It's nothing like the others. And that's not just my opinion talking. But who am I to talk? You don't even know who the hell I am. Right! It's introduction time, ladies and gentleman.

My name is Yamato. Just Yamato. Nothing more, nothing less― I don't even know who named me. It was probably one of _them_. Ah, yes… 'Them'. Who are they? Team Magma: The people who left their mark on me forever. To prove they have ownership on my mind, body, and soul, I wear this collar with a tag of Team Magma's mark on it. My closer friends say it's irony, or logic because; I am a canine after all. Mightyena, to be exact, you see. The only evidence of my being the half-breed between human and Mightyena is the markings on my face, the two gray ears that poke out of my head, and my black fluffy tail. It's not that fluffy, but people say it looks like it. Quite frankly, I think the features make me look all the more handsome. You see, I really am a ladies' man. But I wasn't always. Actually, people used to hardly know I existed. Why? I had to keep to the shadows. At the time when I escaped the prison called the Magma's hideout, the half-breed experiments were feared, and most people didn't want the Magma to mess with them, so they were more than obliged to turn the half-breeds in. A shame, really—they had no idea about how great we were. I mean, we're _half pokémon_! Don't tell me that isn't the coolest thing. Before I go ranting on, maybe you should hear my whole story. From the beginning; my tale of life, past, and pain. You won't regret this—I promise! Just listen in and hear me out.

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**Notes from the Author**:

Ah, I had a lot of fun writing this. I hope the readers enjoy. -- I spent as much time on this while I was in the middle of going through moving and other torture in life. Yamato sure didn't like sitting in my suitcase on the way to my new home. Poor Yamato. Anyways, I'm going to keep the work up as much as I can through the story! I think the person I want to thank the most is Hiei, my son. Well, he's the one that got me to start writing in the first place, and without reading enough of her stories, I'd probably be nowhere in my writing life or—my art life.

As for these cute little Author Note things, I'll try to put them at the end of every chapter, as kind of update on what the hell I'm doing and how I manage to get writing done, and some key points that might be confusing in the story. Wow, you've actually read this far? Amazing. Most people skip this stuff—I would. Thanks for reading Gray Sky: A pokémorph's story. :D


	2. False Living

**Gray sky**

A pokémorph's story

**Chapter Two**: False Living

Everyone told me that when I was born, lightening cracked the sky and I was the most vile, ugly baby to set foot on Hoenn. But then again, that could be just because they didn't like me. It's understandable. A _lot_ of people don't like me. I have reason to believe it's the attitude. Tch. I don't care if they like it or not. I can't remember anything since before I was five. I was five years old when I was supposedly taken off the streets as an orphan, and experimented on until I became the half-breed I am now. I somehow manage to doubt that, too. It seems like something to tell me so I'd shut up and stop asking questions. The earliest stages of being in the Magma hideout's prison was when it was my birthday— June 4th, and I actually asked a guard if I could have something special. I don't even have the slightest idea how I knew that you get special things on your birthday.

Guess what happened? I was beaten for such a stupid question, the marks on my weeks there for quite a while. Woo, talk about a good child's mistake. And I wonder why no one happened to warn me. The people I was 'friends' with were a lovely Ninetails half-breed named Haru, a Gloom half-breed named Nioi, and a guard's Murkrow named Wynzor. I wouldn't say we were like save-the-other-guy's-puppy kind of best friends, but nonetheless they were friends that meant quite a lot to me.

Growing up in a crappy place like the Hideout made me actually think this was life—everyone's life. There were the humans, who were superior with their intelligent minds, and the half-breeds, who were mindless, clueless, and at the humans' beck and call. I didn't even think the humans were scary. I pretty much figured this was how life was set-up, so I shouldn't complain to the cycle of living. Boy, was I wrong or what? You bet right about the moment I figured it all out I felt pretty damn stupid, too. And about the day where I found out…

A Roselia half-breed named Haru had escaped again, how she managed to do it, no one was sure. But it was sort of funny to watch her run out, then us inside hear how every damn time she got mesmerized by the outside world and ended up just standing there until someone caught her and dragged her in.

Around the time it was getting to nearly Haru's one-hundredth time to escape, I considered escaping myself. In fact, there was a lot of talk about escape, and I start listening in. It didn't bring me down when the others (all older than me at the time) told me I wouldn't stand a chance, but I listened anyways. Then it came down to the day of escape, which ironically enough I was a big part in. The plan was that I pretend to act up and be annoying, then as the guard got ready to beat me, I had to attack back, grab his keys, free the others, then all of us together would escape, kicking Magma ass as one. Just keep in mind I was seven and a half, and it took three days for me to remember this plan. I wasn't smart in the whole mind category.

Then escaping day came. And let me tell you, everything went perfect. So I was being annoying, prancing about and making rude remarks to the guard to really piss him off. The moment he opened that door I lunged at him using newfound instincts I didn't know I had, then gave him a bite that left a mark for a _long_ time. My hands went for his keys and I found myself going quick as hell, trying to get all the locks undone, and set everyone free. I did it— I actually did it! I received a lot of small thanks, and then it came to where everyone escaped. Everyone had got free too, except the water pokémon who needed to be tanked 24-7, and Haru. She was staring, of course. And that's how I did. That's how I escaped the false living, setting foot into the woods of the new world. I felt overwhelmed with happiness, seeing everyone else free, passing by me. But then, that's when I realized something was wrong. Everyone was leaving. Leaving _me_. Almost everyone went their separate ways, everyone except those who were of a family, or in love. But that's when I found myself in the woods, ash raining from the heavens, dotting my head and face, like dry pointless tears. They had left me. Now I was alone.

And where was I to go? Nowhere, that's where. I was lost now and lacked a purpose now that I was free of the false living. I kneeled down alone at the foot of a tree, watching wild pokémon frightened by the escape passing by. I brought my knees up to my chest, begging my eyes not to bring out the tears. I was fine, wasn't I? As so long as I was free, everything was going to be okay. I watched as a Numel trudged past me in the ash-covered grass, and a Machop followed after him. They seemed awfully cheery. I soon realized I was getting nowhere sitting there and pouting. I needed to explore this new world.

I had worked my way through the trees for quite a while, until there was an unexpected end to the trees. There was some sort of civilization, or so I comprehended, where humans were roaming about. And I don't mean just one or two humans—they were _everywhere_. There were two buildings the humans went in and out of the most. One was red, the other, just next to it, blue. What were these strange two buildings? Keeping back a bit, because something in my instincts told me to, I tried my best to read the signs in front of the two. The red one was called a Pokémon Center, the blue one a PokéMart. This was strange. I tried to see the difference between humans walking in and out of each building. After several hours of watching, I realized the Pokémon Center was to heal sick, tired, or dying pokémon, while the PokéMart being a place to stock up items, or purchase them—it was one or the other. As I sneaked around this human civilization in the shadows, I realized that besides the Pokémon Center and PokéMart, most of the other building structures were homes that humans lived in. But there was one building I didn't understand. It was tall and noticeable the most from all the others. It was huge, and dome like, with a simple sign that said 'Lavaridge Gym'. Humans went in, and humans went out. But the humans that went in looked determined, while humans came walking out either looking sad and upset, or happy and proud. I couldn't quite understand it, really. And curiosity somehow got the best of me on this round.

I waited until the following night, waiting intently to understand what it was. Then my stomach growled. I realized I had just gone a complete day without food, and I didn't really know where to find any. Okay, you want to know how bad I wanted to know about this Gym place? I was willing to give up the hunt for food just to find out what this Gym place was first.

As soon as most humans were asleep or gone elsewhere, I snuck over to the door of the Gym, quietly entering. I was amazed by what I saw. There was a heavy fog inside the buildings, and if you went just left of the entrance, there was a short hall with high walls, a strange looking hole that seemed a little unsafe to me. I went back to the entrance and realized that the one wall lower than the rest wasn't a low wall but a ledge. Using my strong legs and pokémon-like abilities, I hopped the ledge, looking around carefully. There was nothing there aside what looked like an empty alter. Deciding there was nothing to see, I turned away, ready to give up on my daring investigation.

Smack. To my dismay, I had run right into a young human girl taller than me, my face flat in her chest.

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**Notes from the Author**: 

I don't think I have too much to say, but uh, a few small notes that probably are really unimportant. Or, maybe not... Which ever you choose. Here's the list thing:

• If you didn't notice, I'm going on details from the Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald game. That goes for mapping, building structures, etc.

• … Yamato's got some good-ass intelligence for a seven year old. Or, actually, he's naturally smart. It's kind of a thing he inherited from his parents, I guess.

• All the names of _my_ original characters created by me have Japanese names. (Note that Wynzor, my actual Murkrow morph RP character's Japanese name is Uinza, but since I know him as Wynzor, I kept it so.) As for original characters to the game, I'm not sure if I'm going to use English names or Japanese ones. I think English to spare confusion, even if I know them by Japanese. '-'

• Don't you just hate the last line? Yeah, I sort of do too. But funny, right?

Yes, so I am happy to conclude with the next chapter will be coming soon to a theater near you— err, I mean… Wait, I think I messed that one up. xD


	3. The Chance

**Gray sky**

A pokémorph's story

**Chapter Three**: The Chance

I jumped back, sharp claws extended, my tail going up as I bared fangs, as well. This whole instinct thing that continued to take over my mind was really annoying. A small piece in my mind hated it a lot.

I looked at the girl I had walked in to. I thought everyone was asleep! How the hell did she manage to stay awake and know about my intrusion? Finally, I paid attention to the expression on her face. I'd never seen an expression like that― one that was a sort of, 'What the hell?' mixed with, 'Oh my God.' Something like that…

I figured she was a no-good human just like the Magma back at my old home, but that's where I realized I was wrong― she was nothing quite like I imagined. A smile spread across her face, and she knelt down to my level. "Hi there, little boy. Are you lost? How'd you get in here, hm?" She asked, and I just stared.

I silently came closer. She seemed friendly, and that was something my mind commonly accepted. As I came closer, she put her hand out, and I immediately withdrew. She waited, and I came close again. She wasn't going to grab or choke me or anything, so I figured it was okay. She scratched my head, and got me on my golden spot—right behind the ears. "My name's Flannery," She told me, "what's yours, little guy?" I blinked at first, and then answered her question. "My name is Yamato." I told her, unnoticing of my slow-wagging tail that became more rapid as she scratched my head.

"It's nice to meet you, Yamato. " She told me, then asked me something else, "You wouldn't happen to be one of those rumored escapee experiments from the Magma hideout, are you?" You bet I was surprised enough. Did this mean she was with the Magma, and ready to take me back? Nope. I was wrong, yet again. I simply nodded, a bit too nervous to use my voice. How did she know about that, anyways? She smiled at me again and went on.

"I just got back from hearing about a bunch of pokémon like you. They said if you're not returned to the Magma, they might cause us harm. But I'm not afraid of Team Magma. I'll keep you safe with me. Okay?" Flannery said to me, and I felt myself pretty darn happy. So I had a chance at life after all!

So maybe living in Flannery's Gym for four years wasn't something I was expecting, but it happened. While I was there, all the most amazing things happened. I learned so much about how the human world worked, and how I should be careful because I was something a lot of humans couldn't comprehend— and what humans didn't understand, they feared. Or, so I was told, at least. And I finally found out what the Gym was for!

Nearly everyday, humans came into this Gym place and challenged Flannery with their pokémon. If they won, they were given a badge. There are supposedly eight badges all over Hoenn, and trainers try to get them all. Why, however… I couldn't quite understand.

Flannery really did teach me a lot, and helped me get stronger. Flannery learned a lot about me, as well. Apparently, I was more pokémon than human, and pretty much, I was ninety-nine percent pokémon, one percent human. That meant that the human in was only the part that made me intelligent, able to communicate in the human language, and appear part human. Aside those three aspects, I was like any other ordinary pokémon. But that wasn't even the best part. I could learn pokémon attacks.

Flannery was like my own trainer but really wasn't; she was more like someone who helped me make it through tough training. She helped me working on learning my own attacks—I had learned Tackle, the lethal full-body charge, Howl, the eerie call to raise my attack and spirit, and Bite, the lethal use of my sharp teeth. I practiced a lot of fighting tactics and such with Flannery's Torkoal, who soon became my one of my favorite friends. After I learned what I figured what was all I needed to learn, I had spent the rest of my time in the Gym roaming about, watching a lot of the fights against Flannery, day by day. But then came one fatal day where it ended.

I had climbed up to the top supporting beams of the Gym, staring out one of the high windows curiously. It was a quiet morning, and only three trainers had stopped by so far, when the average at this hour was seven or eight. I glanced below into the fog and sighed as I jumped below, keeping to the walls as I made it to Flannery's alter. I realized something was wrong. Flannery wasn't there. Alert that something was wrong; I looked around, unable to find her. Giving up on the search, I figured she must have gone outside the Gym for some reason.

Leaning on a wall, my tail flicking back and forth as I waited, I was alerted as the Gym doors opened, and Flannery came running in. The look on her face told me it was urgent, and I was ready to listen. "Yamato, you have to run!" She told me, and soon the doors opened again. I glanced to see who it was. The Magma. And they were here for no one else but _me_.

There were four of them, and I knew I wouldn't fight. In fighting, being outnumbered was my weakness. I took off running and went for the emergency exit, the Magma after me. "It's one of them! Catch him!" One of them yelled, as they all tried to catch up. I glanced back, catching sight of Flannery releasing all of her pokémon, keeping the Magma busy while I made my run for it. My chances of escape were good now.

As soon as I was out the back door, the morning light nearly blinded me, and I realized there were a lot more Magma lingering outside and searching. Luckily, none of the outdoor squad caught sight of me, so I managed to run the fastest I could and make it out of Lavaridge. I lingered in the trees just outside of Lavaridge, wanting to return back to the Gym, where Flannery was, where I felt much safer. But I couldn't— the Magma was there.

It was almost until night until the Magma left, but that wasn't before they ruined my hopes of returning to my home. I stood on the outer edge of the crater Lavaridge lied in, and stared at the Gym, which was up in flames. The entire building was burning, and the locals struggled to stop the fire— but it was useless. So there I stood, illuminated by the warm orange glow of the fire as darkness took over the sky. I looked at Flannery below, who was in the neighboring home with her pokémon, watching the fire burn.

I slowly turned my back, and then looked at the world that lay before me. It seemed to go on forever, and it probably did for as far as I knew. I left Lavaridge, and began to wander the forest, in search of the next town. Flannery told me that if anything ever happened… any Gym leader would be a friend to me. But I didn't need them. I was on my own, and I would find my place in this world alone.

* * *

**Notes from the Author**:

Ah, not too much notes really. Just that, uh… This chapter took me longer than it should have, due to a lot of distractions. And no, if you were paying attention, Flannery isn't dead. > Stop thinking that. Onto the next chapter! Huzzah.


End file.
